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A Blonde Woman
Palma Vecchioabout 1520
The National Gallery, London
London, United Kingdom
The woman seems to unveil her charms and as she does so offers us flowers - this is perhaps a poetic allusion to the goddess Flora (although Flora was also a common name for courtesans). The painting is an early and notable example of a type of painting also produced by Titian (active about 1506; died 1576).
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Details
- Title: A Blonde Woman
- Creator: Palma Vecchio
- Date Created: about 1520
- Physical Dimensions: 77.5 x 64.1 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on wood
- School: Italian (Venetian)
- More Info: Explore the National Gallery’s paintings online
- Inventory number: NG3939
- Artist Dates: about 1480 - 1528
- Artist Biography: Palma Vecchio, whose original name was Iacomo Negreti, was a 16th-century Venetian painter. Nothing is known of his training. Stylistically his work owes a considerable debt to bothTitian and Giorgione. 'A Blonde Woman' is related to Titian's famous picture of Flora in the Uffizi, Florence. Palma Vecchio came from the Bergamo area. He was first mentioned in 1510 in Venice, the city where he apparently worked for the rest of his life. Vasari said that he died at the age of 48 which would mean that he was born in about 1480. He is best known for two domestic types of painting he developed - the sacra conversazione in horizontal format and set in an extensive landscape, and the half-length pseudo-portraits of beautiful women.
- Acquisition Credit: Mond Bequest, 1924
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